


Second Heart

by Miri1984



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Julia and Magnus fall in love, M/M, Taako and Merle get guilted into revenge, but also a lot of ogling and nerdery, there's some sad stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:58:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13262187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miri1984/pseuds/Miri1984
Summary: Post the day of Story and Song, Lup and Barry learn about what Magnus was forced to give up in Wonderland. Lup also learns her brother promised to kill Kalen for him. Lup never lets Taako break promises.Flashbacks to the story of Magnus and Julia. Lots of smooches. We know how that one ends though. Sorry.





	1. Chapter 1

_“The past beats inside me like a second heart.”_

\---John Banville

On the day of story and song, the man who used to be known as Governor Kalen looked at the approaching hunger and saw a reflection of his own soul.

It would be nice to think that once the story hit him the man who used to be Kalen was able to look inside himself and see his faults, the avarice, the petty malice that had led him to destroy the city of which he had once had charge. But the man who used to be Kalen watched the hunger descend, and learned the truth about the man who had ruined him, and turned away, untouched and unchanged.

Some people are like that.

#

Steven Waxman had known Lucretia for nearly three years when she asked him for the favour. A sensible lass, he’d thought that from the first he’d met her. She’d been browsing through the shopfront they’d kept up before… before the troubles started, where he’d sell some of the smaller things they carved in their off hours. She’d been admiring one of his ducks, turning it over in her hands and smiling a sad, secretive smile. He’d introduced herself -- she’d bought the duck and he’d seen her a few times after that, every couple of months. They’d fall into a conversation and he was always impressed by how worldly she seemed, older than her years, with a keen eye for good woodwork and a subtle understanding of the world.

It was on the last of these visits that she asked him about taking on an apprentice.

“I’ve been looking,” Steven said, “for quite a while now actually.” He sighed, looking out the window of the shop into the streets beyond. Anyone but a native of Raven's Roost wouldn’t be able to tell, but the young folk of Raven's Roost were leaving. 

Lucretia didn’t notice his slide to melancholy, and gave him one of her rare, wide smiles. “That’s wonderful,” she said. “Because I have just the person for you. He’s… he’s a dear friend of mine, already has many of the skills you’ll need, and he’s in dire need of a…” she hesitated. “Of a home.”

Steven raised an eyebrow. “What is it that you’re not telling me?”

She sucked at her lip. “He’s had… an injury,” she said. “It affected his memory. Nothing serious! Nothing that will impair him in any way should you choose to take him on, but he might have… blind spots.”

“This was a magical injury, then,” Steven said.

She sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Please, it was… no fault of his. But I owe him a debt and I… will owe you one as well, if you will help with this.”

Steven stroked his beard, contemplating. “I won’t take him on simply to coddle him,” he said. 

“Of course not! And I can guarantee you that you… you won’t be disappointed in him. He has…” Steven was surprised to see her look away, blinking rapidly. “He has so many talents.”

“Well, I’ll give the lad a go,” Steven said, and that brilliant smile spread across her face again. 

“Thank you, so much,” she said. “I’ll send him your way in the morning? He is still… recovering.”

Steven wouldn’t pretend not to be intrigued by this development, but the look on Lucretia’s face made him reconsider pressing her on the issue. An old lover? Perhaps? A relative fallen on hard times? It was impossible to tell from the limited information he had and they did very badly need help at the Hammer and Tongs, as Julia had continually been telling him for the last year and a half. 

“Tomorrow then,” he said. She leaned forward, smiling, and put her hand over his. 

“Thank you so much for this, Steven.”

He coughed a little, under his breath and awkwardly pulled his hand out from under hers. “That’s fine, Lucretia. Just fine.”

#

The man was huge. Steven blinked a few times as he took him in, well over six feet, bushy auburn sideburns and a nose that looked like it had been broken several times. There was a scar across one of his eyes… another under his chin, and the big, powerful hands that nervously twisted his cloth hat in his hands were nicked all over. 

He looked dangerous and Steven had a moment of hesitation before opening the door and waving him inside.

“Sir, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity,” he said, ducking his head slightly as he entered. 

“Well lad, we’ve been hurting for help for a while now so you might find yourself a little overworked at the beginning…”

“I’m ready and willing, sir,” he said. 

“Call me Steven, please,” Steven said. 

The man smiled, and it was a little like a ray of sunshine, big and open and warm, and some of Steven’s misgivings melted under its relentless hopefulness. “Magnus,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the work, sir… uh… Steven.”

“Well let’s get you into your room and cleaned up. You’re a little earlier than I thought you’d be, so Julia is just getting the linen together for your bed, but there’s a washbasin and somewhere to put your things.” Steven eyed the bag that Magnus was carrying. It didn’t look like it contained that much, although there were a few odd bulges and some interesting designs stitched into its leather. “We won’t get you started today, you’ll have time to settle in before I…”

“Oh there’s no need, s.. Steven. I’m…”

Steven smiled. “We’ll see how you go, lad.”

He led Magnus to the small apartment at the back of the workshop -- it hadn’t been used since their last apprentice left, although he’d kept it dusted and cleaned and made sure the bed wasn’t infested with bedbugs. The room felt a lot smaller with Magnus in it, although the big man moved with exaggerated care. Steven was pretty sure his feet would hang over the edge of the bed.

Perhaps he could build a new one for him.

He showed Magnus where the water pump was and left him to his own devices, contemplating the puzzle of the man as he began cataloguing and sorting the jobs he figured could be handled by an apprentice. There were a lot of them. Gods willing the lad would turn out able to handle himself, because at this point they were in danger of sinking under the weight of overwork.

He sighed and rubbed his face. If they didn’t sink under other pressures first, of course. He looked out of the window onto the streets of Raven's Roost, noting the few figures hurrying past to jobs or homes in the bright morning sunlight. There was a weight on all of them, at the moment, heavy and dark and threatening. He couldn’t blame those young folk for leaving. If he were younger -- if they hadn’t invested so much money and time into the workshop -- if Julia were less… stubborn. Well. Maybe they would have left months ago. As it was they were determined to stick it out.

“He’s one man, papa,” she had said. “We can’t let one man decide how we live our lives.”

“One man with all the power,” Steven had pointed out.

“One man can’t live forever,” she’d replied.

He can live longer than us, he’d wanted to say back to her, but had bitten his tongue. She was too young to bear the weight of his cynicism on top of her own.

#

It’s just plain strange, Barry can’t help but think as they sit around a table in the moonbase. All seven of them, restored to each other, alive and healthy and… well. Mostly healthy. He eyes Merle’s wooden arm, Taako’s altered face, Lup’s shadowy form and sighs. There’s no resetting this time, no going back to how they were. But that doesn’t matter because they’re safe now, and they’re together again, and his heart feels too full and he finds himself blinking back tears that want to gather behind his eyes every time one of his friends… one of his _family_ talks.

“So,” Lup says. “I know what you three chucklefucks got up to after you found my umbrella but I don’t know anything from before that. Spill. What did you get up to while we were gone?”

Merle looks at Taako, who shrugs.

“I had a kid,” Merle says.

He can feel Lup’s surprise. “The fuck?”

Merle spreads his hands. “Got married.”

“To a _person?”_ Lup asks.

“Very fucking funny,” Merle says. “Yes, to a person. Not a plant. Although it probably would have worked better if I’d married a plant to be honest. Kid’s cute though. Name’s Mookie, looks just like his mother but I think he gets his attitude from me.” Merle’s face goes wistful for a while, then he smiles. “He’s got a sister… she’s a lot more sensible but that could be because I’m not her dad.”

“Don’t undersell yourself, Merle,” Lucretia says. “Mavis and Mookie both love you very much.”

Merle shrugs. “Well, I haven’t given them a whole lot of reason to,” he says. “I guess I’ll give it more of a go now.”

“What about you Taako?” Barry asks. “I heard a bit about you when I was alive… before Phandolin. Didn’t you have some sort of show?”

“Mmm hmmm,” Taako says. “I wowed _thousands_ with my cooking,” he continues, but there’s an undercurrent of bitterness to that. “Until my deadbeat partner poisoned forty people and I had to go on the run. You know. Because I forgot _all_ my magic, a hundred years of my life and the existence of my _sister_ …”

“Taako,” Lup says, a little warning in her voice. Taako rolls his eyes and Barry can see Lucretia staring miserably into her glass. He coughs. 

“Magnus?”

“I…” Magnus says, then shakes his head. “I had a good life,” he says. 

“Until we came along and fucked it all up,” Taako interjects and Barry is better at reading the twins physical cues so he notices the quick look that passes between Taako and Merle at that.

Lucretia puts a hand on Magnus’ arm before downing her drink and standing up. “You kids have fun,” she says. “I’m… I’m tired.”

She leaves and Lup glares angrily at her brother who makes a face back at her -- this could go on for a long time, Barry knows from experience, so he turns to Magnus. Magnus shakes his head at him. “You know what, I’m tired too,” he says. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Lup is still staring at Taako. She has a natural advantage in that sort of staring contest, given she doesn’t need to blink or breathe, but Taako is giving it a red hot go.

“”What the fuck,” Lup says precisely, “was that about?”

“You really should ask Magnus, darling…”

“I am asking you. So spill it.”

“Magnus was married too,” Merle says. Barry’s eyes widen. 

“Holy shit,” he says, at the same time that Lup says “Son of a _bitch.”_

“She died in Raven’s Roost,” Taako finishes. 

“Okay, pull back brother mine, give me all the deets before I fireball you both. What. Who. Where?”

Taako sighs. “I dunno, there was a guy… the Governor? Plantman help me out here.”

“Why’re you asking me?”

“You were there, in the.. You know the thing. With the thing? Those fuckers in Wonderland made him…”

Lup growls. 

“Okay okay uh… let me get it straight. Magnus led some kind of revolution? Or something? And then they deposed this dude… Kalen? And Kalen was salty about that so he came back and killed Magnus’ wife. While Magnus was out I’m guessing although he never really gave us the full blow by blow account you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, and then when we were in Wonderland those elvish dicks made him forget about Kalen.”

“The liches?” Barry asked.

“Yep. Those guys. Fuck them.”

“Well they’re dead now,” Merle points out.

“I kinda want to bring them back to kill them again,” Lup says. “So… walk me through that again. They made Magnus forget…”

It takes another half hour or so for Barry and Lup to get the story straight. Merle and Taako aren’t exactly the most reliable of narrators and Barry is certain they’re missing important parts of the story, but they get the gist of it to the point where he can feel Lup vibrating with the kind of righteous anger that is going to lead to _consequences._

“So you two promised to kill this dude,” she says. “What are you doing about that?”

Taako and Merle look at each other. “Well we promised to kill him if we _met_ him. Big world, this, kinda… hard to… just…” Taako says.

“Pretty sure there’s more than one Kalen out there too I mean…” Merle begins.

“Let me rephrase that,” Lup says. “We’re going to go and kill this dude. What are you two going to do to make that happen?”

Merle swallows. “Well we’ve kind of got to find him first, don’t we?”

Lup finger guns him. “On the right track there, short stuff. Let’s get going.”

#

There was something hypnotic about folding washing, although Julia admitted that it could have just been the numbing effect of boredom. She hummed under her breath as she smoothed sheets for the new apprentice’s bed into an easily transportable square of cloth, wondering if he was going to work out, wondering if he would be efficient but cold, like Nathan, their last apprentice, worried that he would be lazy and offensive, like the one before that her father had thrown out on his ear.

She couldn’t remember his name. For the best really.

In any case her mind was elsewhere when she finally pushed open the door to the apartment, without knocking. It had been so long since the apartment had been occupied, she justified to herself, afterwards. She hadn’t thought that the man’s first thought on getting a room of his own would be to wash. 

Well. She kind of _should_ have thought that, but her experience with men was largely from those at the local pub, and apprentices, and her father, and they often lacked the drive to be clean that this man… obviously had.

The first thing she noticed was his almost complete lack of clothing, but she stopped herself from shrieking and shutting the door like a maiden. Because. Reasons. Because. Broad, sunburned shoulders tapering into a muscular back that was streaked here and there with scars. Because. A low slung towel, kept up by the curve of…

She swallowed. He’d just dipped his head into the water, which was probably why he hadn’t heard the door open, and he stood up, water cascading down his skin and catching at the towel at his waist.

Oh.

She didn’t know if she made that noise out loud, but he turned any way and she realised she was standing in the doorway of this man’s private room with her mouth wide open and a bundle of sheets in her arms and she really _should_ stop staring but instead found herself watching a droplet of water run down into the hair on his chest and towards the dip just above his hips and…

_Oh my._

“Hello?” 

He wasn’t at all embarrassed. Damn him. She was grateful for the dark skin that would definitely hide the blush that was spreading over every part of her body right now. 

“Mr Burnsides?” she said. Her voice didn’t squeak, _thank the gods,_ and he gave her a crooked smile. 

“That’s me,” he said. “You must be Julia.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah I’m Julia. I’m here to make up your bed?”

He reached forward with both hands and she had a terrible moment of anticipation (the towel was perched extremely precariously on his hips). By a miracle (or a curse) it didn’t fall. “I can do that,” he said. 

She shoved the sheets at him a little forcefully. “Well, if you’re sure,” she said.

He nodded and _winked,_ using one hand to hitch the towel around his waist up a little. _Holy shit._

“Uh… I’ll just… Go then.”

“Thank you, Julia,” he said. 

She slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaning against the wood for a long moment, catching her breath.

“Well,” she said to herself. “Great.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m just saying,” Taako says as he is mostly pushed towards his quarters, “that this is a precedent I don’t really want to establish. I mean just because I happen to be personally involved with…”

“Brother, my heart,” Lup says, sweetly enough, but with steel behind it, “Barry is new to this gig and I don’t have hands. The only person who can get the info on this is…”

“I don’t see why I have to be the one to ask him, that’s…”

“It’s a question of percentages,” Barry says. “Whenever you wanted me to do something on the Starblaster, how did you make that happen?”

Taako’s eyes go sly. “I uh… approached you in a totally profesh manner and laid out…”

Lup uses mage hand to slap him gently over the back of his head. “No you didn’t, you goose. You asked me to ask him.”

Barry nods. “Yup. And why did you do that?”

“Because…” Lup finishes for Barry before Taako can begin on another excuse. “Barold J Bluejeans is incapable of saying no to me.”

“You can’t tell either of us that Kravitz has supernatural resistance to your charms,” Barry says. “He’s way more likely to give you information. Especially if you batter your eyelashes at him.”

“I resemble that remark. And Barold I’m ashamed of you. You can totally resist Lup if you try.”

Lup chuckles, then turns to Barry and Barry takes a step back. “You really don’t need to demonstrate this,” he says. “I am completely comfortable with the knowledge that I can’t resist you. Incorporeal or not.”

Taako crosses his arms over his chest and Lup sighs. “Just ask him, Taako? Please?”

“Ask him what?”

The door to Taako’s rooms opens to reveal Kravitz. Barry knew that the reaper had access to all planes of existence, but it did seem a little bit forward for him to just… be in Taako’s room. Taako doesn’t seem upset by it though, so maybe they arranged it earlier.

“Hey babe,” he says, then pushes Barry into -- and a little bit through -- Lup. “Piss off you two.”

Barry points at Taako and makes a face and Taako pokes his tongue out at him, pushing Kravitz back into the room and pointedly slamming the door behind him.

Lup looks at him. “Okay,” Barry says. “So I guess we just wait?”

She starts drifting down the corridor and he pads after her. “Taako will deliver,” she says. “He wants to kill this guy just as much as I do.”

“You think?”

“He’s mad right now, but he’s not mad at Magnus, so he’ll throw himself into this to make us forget about the whole Luce thing.”

“We’re not going to forget about the whole Luce thing though, are we?”

He hears Lup sigh. “No,” she says. “No we’re not.”

#

It was strange how easily Magnus slotted into life with them. He was such a big man that Julia always expected him to take up more space, but for the first few weeks she would walk into a room and not even know that he was there. He was quiet, and focused on his work and had an air of competence about him that made her think he was a lot older than he looked.

So for those first few weeks, she didn’t really notice him, but after a while she started to notice very little _aside_ from him. He never mentioned how she had walked in while he was half naked and she did her best not to dwell on it (although sometimes late at night her mind… just wandered there) but there was a physicality to him that made her wonder if he’d ever been a fighter.

Most days, though, she didn’t spend too much time in his company. She had her side of the business, without an apprentice that she insisted she didn’t need. The forge was hers, and she wasn’t ready to share it with anyone, not yet, not when she’d fought so hard to keep it, and given up so much.

She usually worked in a sleeveless top and short pants under her apron, simply because of the heat. That meant that sparks from the forge would occasionally hit her bare skin, as a consequence she was peppered with small white scars across her upper arms and shoulders, but the momentary pain was bearable where the heat was not. 

She wore a kerchief to keep her springy curls from sticking to her forehead with sweat and she leaned into the rhythm of hammering, tempering steel with practiced ease. This work was different from the mindless boredom of house chores, here she was a craftsman, here each blow she made was calculated and necessary and working towards creating something that someone, somewhere, would _use._

Today she was making swords, and today she was making them for someone she shouldn’t be.

She was so caught up in the work that she didn’t notice Magnus for some time. It was impossible to tell how long he’d been standing in the doorway, but as she moved to plunge the sword into the water and clouds of steam billowed into the air she could see him, hazy and indistinct. 

“Do you make axes as well?” he asked. She hug the sword up on the cooling rack -- it would need some finishing along with the six others there, and pulled off her gloves. 

“Every axe you’ve used in the past month,” she said, smiling a little. 

“They’re good axes.”

“I’m a good blacksmith,” she said. “Something I can do for you? Does father need something?”

“Why smithing and not carpentry?” he asked. He didn’t seem to have any reason to be here at all. Maybe he was just bored. She snorted.

“Carpentry is boring,” she said. His eyes opened a little in shock and she spread her hands. “Seriously. Boooorring.”

“Does your father know you think that?”

“Gods yes. Why do you think you’re here? He wanted me to take over the business, taught me everything he knew, or tried to, but I could never pay attention long enough to meet his standards. Hence this,” she waved her hand at the forge. 

“So where did you learn this?”

She shrugged, tugging off her apron and hanging it on the hook. The steam had cleared now and she could see Magnus’ eyes wander down over her body when she turned back, although when he noticed her noticing he swallowed and dragged his eyes back up to her face.

She could see faint colour in his cheeks, although that could just have been the heat of the forge, and felt a tingling in the pit of her stomach at the thought that he might like what he could see. 

_Careful Jules._

“My mother,” she said finally.

“She was a blacksmith?”

Julia’s lip twisted, a little bitterly at that. “Is. She still is, as far as I know.”

Magnus looked confused. “She left?”

Julia sighed. “My grandparents… they’re getting older, they need more care and Raven’s Roost isn’t exactly…”

He frowned. “Isn’t exactly what?”

She shook her head, turning back to the rack of swords. It was important that these were finished and shipped before the next visit of the Governor’s tax men. She needed to get back to work. “I need to finish,” she said. “Is there something else you wanted?”

“Julia, what are you talking about?”

She sighed. “Nothing you need to worry about, Magnus. I’m sorry. My mother had to leave. She wanted us to go with her but… well. This is my life. This is my father’s life. Raven’s Roost is our home and we didn’t want to leave it… especially not…” she stopped again. “We still write. She’s fine and we love her but she just can’t be here right now, okay? She left me the forge and it’s mine now. This is where I want to be, where I’m going to stay.”

He was still looking at her, confusion on his face. “Okay,” he said. 

“What _are_ you doing here?” 

“Oh, uh. Steven wanted me to ask you to take me to the merchant’s quarter. Apparently we need to discuss terms with Lord Ushwood?”

She blinked. That was right, the Lord in question wanted Steven to build him a new stable on the outskirts of Raven’s Roost. 

“He’s agreed to meet in the Duck and Swan. Steven said you usually handle these kinds of…”

She smirked. “Yes. I usually handle pricing. Father is a soft touch. Let me just… I need to finish up here, and get changed.”

“Steven said Lord Ushwood set the meeting for an hour before dusk,” Magnus said, and Julia frowned. That would mean they would be walking back after dark, through a section of town that wasn’t exactly safe. She looked at Magnus out of the corner of her eye. People knew not to mess with her, generally. She could handle a hammer in the forge or out of it well enough, and her face was known. Magnus, however, was a newcomer, and despite his size there was a chance some of the more unsavory elements of Raven’s Roost would see him as a target. 

If they went together, it should be fine. But she internally ran through her current inventory and decided that he could take one of the axes with him. Maybe one of the older leather vests. It really didn’t hurt to be prepared, after all. 

“Okay,” she said finally. “I’ll meet you in the workshop when I’m done.”

#

Kravitz is used to Taako by now, being prickly and bad tempered, but there is a difference in him these days. A hundred years of difference, Kravitz guesses, a hundred years of memories and lost time and you would think that would mellow him, somehow, isn’t that what’s supposed to happen with age? But if anything he’s _more_ so, more Taako than Taako, and Kravitz still loves him, there’s no question about that, but he’s adjusting to the newness and it’s awkward. 

“What was that all about?”

“My sister and Barold want me to ask you for a favour,” Taako says, throwing himself dramatically onto a luxurious couch. “And they think if I flutter my eyelashes at you you’ll be more likely to say yes.”

Kravitz raises an eyebrow. “That’s… direct of you,” he says.

“I mean, I’ll totes do that if I need to but how about we see if I can just flat out ask you instead? Like, you know, civilised people or some shit.”

Kravitz shrugs. “I wouldn’t object to a little bit of fluttering.”

Taako winks at him. “Gonna do that anyway, in a bit. But I like that to be on my terms, and not part of a deal that’s come anywhere near my sister and my fucking brother-in-law. Eewww.” He gives an exaggerated shudder. “Long story short, we’re trying to find someone.”

Kravitz sits next to him on the couch and Taako, with surprising dexterity, lifts up both legs and pulls off his boots, throwing them over the back of the couch and then flinging his legs over Kravitz’s knees. 

Kravitz’s mouth goes completely dry at the casual physical contact. Goddess, how is it that he never realised how much he missed this? “You…” his voice squeaks a little and he coughs to try to cover it, even though Taako knows full well he doesn’t even need to breathe. “You know I don’t really have any way to find people unless they’re… a bounty, don’t you?”

“I don’t _think_ this dude is a lich. And I’m pretty sure he hasn’t… you know… died without following procedures or whatever the fuck it was that we all did. If he’s dead he’s just dead.”

“You are awfully casual about your deaths,” Kravitz says. It bothers him how blaze all of them are about that, actually, although he can understand it more with Barry and Lup. Taako and Merle and Magnus are all so distressingly… mortal now. Back when they were his bounties that made it seem like they would be easily dealt with. Now it sends his cold skin into an even colder sweat, thinking how fragile their existence truly is.

“Well bubeleh, I figure I don’t have to worry about that sort of thing any more,” Taako says, smirking and stretching a little.

“You know I’m not allowed to break the rules, Taako,” Kravitz says. Taako’s bright eyes twinkle as he looks up at him, and Kravitz can feel him wiggle his toes against Kravitz’s thigh. 

“Suuuure you’re not. Any way _this_ doesn’t involve breaking the rules, we’re just trying to narrow things down. Like whether or not this dude is dead. He wasn’t exactly very popular and there’s a chance the job’s already done and… well we’d kind of like to know if we’re going to be wasting our time on this one.”

Kravitz raises his eyebrows. “You want me to tell you if someone is dead, so that if he isn’t, you can then go and kill them?”

“Uh huh.”

Kravitz runs his fingers over his hair. He remembers in Lucas’ lab, the utter abandon about the three of them that had left him almost speechless. He doesn’t have a great deal to do with mortals, at least, not while they’re mortal, but even then there was a sense about these people that they believed they could do anything. They just had to find a way around the rules to do it.

Dangerous, for someone like him, who is bound by so many. 

“A name?” he asks, finally.

“Governor Kalen. Well. Formerly Governor Kalen of Raven’s Roost.”

Kravitz cocks his head. He’s pretty sure he knows the answer to this one already, but he’s not about to give Taako theories, and things have been a little hectic in the astral plane lately, so it’s even possible that he’s wrong. 

“I’ll have to check.”

Taako nods. “I figure there are a few people from Raven’s Roost on the astral plane who’ll be able to tell you. I mean, he killed a lot of them, so they probably would have noticed if he turned up at one of their parties.”

“Not exactly how things work there, you know,” Kravitz says.

“Huh. Well remind me not to die then if it’s going to be _boring._ Wonder if Lulu can teach me to be a lich like her…”

“No. No liches, Taako.”

“You could be my boss too,” Taako says, waggling his eyebrows, and Kravitz is a little embarrassed at the jolt of heat that hits him in his abdomen with that idea.

“I can check now, if you want me to?” Kravitz says, and Taako looks surprised, but nods. 

“Oookay homie. Is it gonna take long?”

Kravitz allows himself a small smile. “Why? Is there something else you’d rather I was doing?”

Taako shoves at his knee with one foot. “You know it,” he says. Kravitz allows that warmth to spread through him for a moment, and considers just leaving this until later, but Taako is uncharacteristically serious about this, and well, they don’t have any other pressing issues right now.

He leans forward, a little hesitant, wondering if this is even allowed, and is met halfway by Taako who smushes his face into Kravitz’s. “I promise I won’t be long,” he says, once the somewhat sloppy kiss is done.

There’s an awkward moment while he untangles their legs -- mortal bodies are so confusing, honestly, and he stands up, summoning his scythe to tear a portal to the astral plane. 

He looks back at Taako one more time before stepping through, straight into his office, to see him perched on the couch with his chin on one fist, eyes distant.

Looking for souls on the astral plane is more difficult than Taako thinks. Lucas spent months trying to find any trace of his mother, after all, and even if you are lucky enough to find the person you seek, the transition between life and death is sometimes enough to render the soul almost completely different to the person they had been in life. Life… as Kravitz is beginning to understand again after so very long… has so much to do with flesh. With daily pains and needs, with food, and sex, and sleep, that being untethered from the physical is sometimes enough to render a soul unrecognisible. 

The souls of Raven’s Roost, though, all have something in common. They are remarkably well knit together as a community, and each still have distinct individual personalities. It happens sometimes, after a traumatic event that is shared between people. These souls, of Raven’s Roost, experienced injustice by the same hand, and one of them in particular has a clearly defined and sharp personality. It’s fairly easy to locate her. 

It’s a soul he’s spoken with before, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julia learns more about Magnus. Kravitz makes a house call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late my dudes, I was on a cruise with my sister ;). BACK NOW.

Julia adjusted the straps of her leather vest, noting that she’d put on a little weight since the last time she’d worn it, and ran her eyes over the second lying on the bench next to her own hammer and an axe she’d picked out for Magnus. She fingered the haft of the latter, wondering if it was the right weight for him.

“Are we going to start building the stable as soon as we get there?” his amused voice came from behind her. She let herself smile back at him. 

“No, dummy. It’s just that we have to travel through Goshawk territory to get to the Duck and Swan and it’s always best when dealing with those… folk to look like you’re not worth the trouble of mugging.”

Magnus frowned. “There are parts of Raven’s Roost as unruly as that?” he asked. The Hammer and Tongs was in a quiet part of town, near the forest, and Magnus rarely went any further in, more than happy to stay at the workshop while she and her father handled anything that necessitated travel. 

He really didn’t know much about the town at all, she thought. That kind of ignorance could prove costly to him, here.

She sucked at her lip. “Some,” she said. “Some more than others. The Goshawks are particularly feisty at the moment, there are rumours that there’s some sort of dispute going on between them and Lady Feloris’ men.”

Magnus’ frown deepened. “Surely the City Watch should be putting a stop to something like that? The town isn’t a playground for personal rivalries…”

She resisted an urge to roll her eyes at him. She didn’t think he could possibly be this naive. Perhaps he’d been born and raised by bears in a forest somewhere -- that would certainly explain his size. “They’ve been paid off, Magnus,” she said. 

The frown morphed to wide eyed shock. “Well then, Governor Kalen should…”

She couldn’t stop the hiss that escaped her lips at the name of the Governor and Magnus took a step forward, now looking even more concerned. “Put the vest on, Magnus,” she said, sighing. “I’m really not in the mood to discuss politics with you, at least not right now. We don’t have the time before the meeting.”

He raised an eyebrow but did what he was told, expertly buckling it without needing her aid. He’d obviously worn armor before now, and when she handed him the axe he hefted it in a manner she’d not yet seen from him. Definitely not the hold of someone about to cut down a tree.

“You’ve fought with an axe before,” she said.

He looked down at the axe in his hand and tilted his head. “I ah… I… Yes,” he said, and there was something different in his voice, something vulnerable and lost that made her heart thud, once, hard in her chest. She reached out and touched his arm. Raven’s Roost hadn’t been involved in any major conflicts in nearly a decade, but war was common enough in Faerun. She had seen that look in people’s eyes before.

“I thought you were a little old to be an apprentice,” she said. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but she shook her head. “You don’t have to explain,” she said. 

He took a breath. “I can fight,” he said. “But… I used to… I _usually_ fight with a shield as well if you…”

She cocked an eyebrow. He _had_ been a soldier at one point. Most casual combatants wouldn’t know what to do with a shield if it fell on them. “Haven’t made a shield in a while,” she said, then smiled at him. “I could make it a project.”

He smiled back at her, that wide, joyful smile she’d only seen a few times and her heart thudded again, a warning. Gods, but he was a handsome man, this Magnus Burnsides. 

She swallowed and hooked her own hammer to her belt. “We’d best be going,” she said.

They walked in silence most of the way through Goshawk territory. Julia found herself surreptitiously examining Magnus as he walked. He positioned himself next to her but far enough away that if she needed to swing her hammer he would not be in her reach. His eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, flickering over possible ambush points, assessing other citizens for concealed weapons or suspicious behaviour. It was as though she’d flicked a switch somewhere when she’d handed him that axe and warned him of the danger, a switch that woke up a part of him she’d never seen.

She _liked_ this Magnus.

They could _use_ this Magnus.

She squashed that thought as soon as it raised its head but there was the beginning of something there, the beginning of a plan that she knew was dangerous and risky and bursting with possibilities…

They reached the inn without incident, but she noticed a few of the Goshawk men had noticed Magnus as they passed, sizing him up. It was possible she had misjudged the situation -- making Magnus appear too competent may have brought more attention on them than she liked.

Still she couldn’t think about that when she had to negotiate with Lord Ushwood.

The Duck and Swan was a lavish inn frequented by travellers from the richer cities of Faerun -- delegations from Goldcliff and Neverwinter rented their opulent upper level suites when they came to negotiate trade with Raven’s Roost’s nobility and the young and wealthy of Raven’s Roost wasted time and energy attempting to out drink, out dress and out embarrass each other. 

Julia hated it, and she hated Lord Ushwood, but she was first and foremost, a businesswoman, and she would get the best deal out of this that she could. 

Lord Ushwood and his retinue were sitting at the largest table in the taproom. He was lounging back with a goblet of wine in one hand, talking to a tall elf woman who was obviously too highly trained to show the disgust she must be feeling to have the human’s arm slung low over her waist as she attempted to serve him. When he saw Julia, however, he dropped his arm and waved the elf away.

“My lady Waxmann,” Ushwood said. “So good of you to join us. And I see you’ve brought a friend?”

“My father’s new apprentice,” Julia said, sitting opposite Ushwood without bothering to be invited. She expected Magnus to take the seat next to her, but instead he stood behind her chair, one hand on its back. A comforting presence, and, as she could see by the looks on the faces of the guards surrounding Ushwood, an intimidating one.

“His name?” Ushwood said.

“Magnus Burnsides,” Magnus said shortly. 

Ushwood’s eyebrow went up slightly at that. “Good to see that Waxmann finally has the help he needs to finish the work we give him, in a more _timely_ manner, I hope. Now. Perhaps we can discuss terms?”

Julia took a deep breath, and they got to work.

“That went better than I expected,” she said, as they made their way out of the inn. It _had_ gone well. She could even admit that Magnus’ solid, silent presence at her back had given her confidence a boost, and they’d managed to gain some concessions in time and price that would greatly help her current… projects. 

Magnus was smiling at her as they left the inn. “You’re good at that,” he said.

“Practice,” she said, giving him a small wink. “Also it didn’t hurt to have a big strong handsome man at my back.” 

She almost stumbled.

_Oh shit did I just say that out loud?_

His eyes brightened and widened and she realised yes, she had said that out loud and no, she wasn’t imagining that his cheeks had flushed a little red, even in the failing light.

The failing light…

She sucked in a breath as she realised that it was very likely to be full dark by the time they got to Goshawk territory and her exuberance was suddenly tempered by apprehension. 

Magnus tilted his head at her. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, but she gripped the handle of her hammer as she said it. “Let’s get back.”

#

The spirit of Julia Burnsides seems relieved to be given a corporeal form. Kravitz could, of course, simply converse with her as a spirit, but he feels it’s rude in this case, especially since he is essentially asking her to point him in the direction of her murderer.

She sits in his office, folding her hands over her lap. “How is he?” she asks. Kravitz knows there is only one mortal in whose wellbeing she is interested in.

“Physically very well, I believe,” Kravitz says. “The… members of his old crew fought hard and valiantly to rid this planar system of the hunger, but none were permanently injured.”

“Surprised he didn’t rush in and get himself killed in the first push,” Julia says, and her face holds a lot of tension at that. Kravitz is spending more and more of his time with mortals now, one particular mortal, at least, and he is beginning to understand, he thinks, what the source of that tension is for Julia.

Dead who leave their loved ones behind have duelling needs. Should Magnus die, he and Julia will be reunited. And yet. 

Existence on the astral plane is simply that. Existence. The soul stuff of those too ancient to remember their former lives eventually is absorbed back into the planes, but in the decades, centuries, millennia before that occurs they simply… are.

Life is different. With life comes the capacity for change, for something vital and dynamic. It’s been longer than he can remember since he felt the beat of his own heart, but Kravitz has, in the past few months, begun to realise exactly why people cling to it, to _living,_ so desperately. 

Julia’s connection to Magnus gives her some of that vitality, helps her retain her sense of self, but when he dies… 

They deserved life together, not death.

“He still misses you,” Kravitz says, softly.

“Of course he does,” she replies. “He’s only human.”

Kravitz chuckles. “Well.”

“Why am I here?” she asks.

“Governor Kalen,” he says, remembering Taako’s choice to be blunt about this particular matter. He sees Julia’s lips press tightly together and a shadow of pain pass over her features. 

“What about him?”

“I do not usher souls into the astral plane unless they are in violation of our rules,” he says. “Do you or your people know if he has… uh…?”

“Bastard’s still alive as far as we know,” she says. “Although I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t go out of his way to find us if he _was_ dead.” She tilts her head. “Is there a way to rip the arms off a dead soul and shove them in his…”

Kravitz coughs, delicately and she stops. The stockade is reserved for those souls who attempt to leave the astral plane, but he thinks he can possibly arrange with his lady to have this particular one confined in the deepest… dankest cell they have on the island.

Perhaps he’ll let Julia and the others of Raven’s Roost find him first, however.

“Souls are delicate only insomuch as minds are delicate,” he says, as much of a hint as he’s willing to give to the woman about how she might… continue the revenge that Merle and Taako and Lup and the others are planning, once their part of the equation is dealt with. 

Julia takes a breath. “We looked for him,” she says. “We figured someone would take him out sooner than this.”

Her eyes slide away from him and Kravitz realises what she means. “You thought Magnus would kill him?”

She nods. “I… he would have wanted to. I know that much.”

Kravitz sighs. He was specifically trained to fight lich magic, but he knows that the kind of damage they have done to Magnus’ memory simply cannot be fixed. 

“There’s something you don’t know,” Kravitz says. 

#

Julia felt Magnus’ hand on her arm at the entrance to the street and she turned to see him looking ahead of them with his eyes narrowed. 

“Lamps haven’t been lit,” he said, pulling her beside him. 

They were near the edge of Goshawk territory and Julia had been hoping they would be fine, but Magnus was right, the street here was narrower than usual, and held only a single lamp, which she should be able to make out by now.

That it wasn’t lit wasn’t exactly enough to mean anything but then Julia realised she could hear something coming from under the eaves of one of the too close houses.

Before she could fully comprehend that the sounds she was hearing were the soft sobs of someone who had obviously been hurt, Magnus had shoved her behind him and…

… rushed in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako has a plan. Magnus faces the consequences of rushing in.

Taako wakes up wound around Kravitz’ cool, wiry body, limbs intertwined in a way that Taako knows from experience annoys the shit out of most of his lovers. He’s never gotten out of the habit of tentacling his sleeping partners. Product of spending the first decade of his life sleeping in a bedroll with his sister. 

If they couldn’t take one of you without waking the other one they couldn’t take either of you. Or they had to take both. They’d slept like that for protection. For comfort. Out of habit. Even on the Starblaster they’d sought each other out for comfort, and Taako had lost count of the times Barry had come into their quarters to find the twins curled asleep together on the bed.

Barry, being Barry, had just sighed and slept on the couch or the floor. Pushover, as always.

In any case Kravitz, whom Taako is pretty sure doesn’t even fucking need to sleep, is snoring, and for once _he_ is the one who has to try to disentangle himself without waking up his partner, a feat that makes him appreciate exactly why previous lovers would beat him off when he tried to cling to them this way. Would be easier, he guesses, if he didn’t care about waking Kravitz, but hot damn if he doesn’t look cute like that, locs spread out on the pillow and mouth half open.

Once he is free Taako catches himself standing at the edge of the bed, just looking like a goddamned sap, and he blows air out his cheeks, pulling on an oversized shirt and padding into the kitchen.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Lup says.

“Fuck, Lulu. You could at least pretend to be corporeal and not just float in the middle of my coffee table.”

“She’s got a bet with Merle that she can make you scream,” Barry says, back turned to him, making coffee in the kitchen.

“Like a tiny child,” Lup agrees. “Gotta get my spooky right before I get sucked back into the good old mortal world, since it looks like it’s gonna be for good this time.”

Taako snorts and inspects the coffee that Barry is making. “Shit I’ve seen these last ten years you couldn’t scare me if you tried,” he says. “How long have you been here?” He forces himself not to glance back towards the bedroom, where the grim reaper is sprawled, snoring gently and completely naked, on his bed. Lup probably knows. Lup usually knows. But he’s gonna be chill about it and see if he can get through this without having to discuss his sex life with his fucking _in-laws._

“Barry has a hangover,” Lup says. “So he’s been up for an hour or two. Luce didn’t supply our room with coffee so we came here as soon as we’d let her know her hospitality was insufficient.”

Taako grins, nudging Barry aside so he can finish frothing the milk. “You wake her up?”

“She floated in the middle of her head,” Barry says, slight disapproval in his tone. 

“Luce woke up with her face roundabout in my kidneys,” Lup says and Taako chuckles. 

“Do you actually have internal organs like that?”

“Ghost organs,” Lup says. “Kind of have to concentrate to manifest them but it’s worth it.”

“Shit yeah,” Taako says. He busies himself finishing coffee for himself and Barry, debates for a second, then pours a third for Kravitz. There’s no way Lup doesn’t know he’s here and he is kinda proud of it any way. _Look at me, I’m Taako and I’m being a considerate lover._

How shit changes.

“So,” Barry starts, nervously, eyeing the third coffee and lifting an eyebrow. 

“Our man isn’t dead,” Taako says. “Krav confirmed last night. But he can’t find him, since he’s not…” Taako waves a hand at Lup who gives a ghostly chuckle. “He’s not on Krav’s shit list like you two are, so it’s up to us.”

“Huh,” Barry says. “Could be difficult. I haven’t exactly been paying attention to things other than the apocalypse the past… oh… hundred or so years.”

“And I don’t do finding, darling. People come to _me.”_

Taako grins and leans against the counter. “Well then,” he says, “it’s a good thing cha’boy happens to know the world’s greatest detective.”

#

“Mangus!” Julia hissed, jerking forward a couple of steps in horror at his idiocy. “What are you…”

“It’s all right,” she could hear him in the darkness, but he wasn’t talking to her, he was talking to whoever was in the shadows. She readied her hammer, not trusting by any stretch of the imagination that this wasn’t a trap, and moved up behind Magnus, who was crouched over what looked like a child. “It’s okay, kid, are you hurt? We can…” The tread of booted feet on cobbles, the jingle of mail and the strike of a match were all sounds that made Julia’s heart leap into her throat. Magnus stilled, then stood also, as the kid on the ground laughed and jumped to his feet, slipping away through the shadows like any good paid decoy. 

“Nice,” Julia said, as one of the at least six people surrounding them lit a torch. She squinted at the sudden change in light, swallowing.

“Julia Waxmann,” a voice she recognised said. She shut her eyes, and felt Magnus move closer to her, slightly in front as though to protect her from whatever was coming next.

“Ashley,” she said.

Ashley Potts, Governor Kalen’s chief of security, was a tall man with a ginger beard and piercing blue eyes. His skin was sallow and freckled, pouchy cheeks and thick lips almost permanently spread in a smile that did not reach his eyes. 

“Who are you?” Magnus asked. Julia shook her head and put one hand on his arm. 

“Don’t get involved,” she breathed.

Ashley turned his gaze to Magnus, who straightened, if possible, even further. Julia was gratified to note that he was at least three inches taller than Ashley, and far bulkier. Ashley was a renowned fighter -- for all that he fought dirty -- but she had a brief moment of satisfaction imagining what it would be like to see Magnus split his head open with his axe.

“This is the apprentice?” Ashley said.

“Magnus Burnsides,” Magnus said. “And you are?”

“Ashley Potts. You could say I’m the… protector of Raven’s Roost.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Protector?” She elbowed him in the ribs and he made a silent “ow” shape with his mouth, but it looked like he was done trying to antagonise one of the most powerful men in Raven’s Roost. At least for the moment.

“Julia,” Ashley said, after raking his eyes over Magnus and dismissing him as unimportant. “You’ve been busy lately.” 

“Well yes,” she said, and held up a finger to count off a list. “Lord Ushwood wants us to build his new stable. And the north bridge needs replacement joints and I’ve had an order for butcher’s knives and…”

“I don’t mean with your usual work,” Ashley interrupted, and nodded at one of his companions, who drew a sword from its sheath. Magnus frowned and gave Julia a sideways glance.

She went still, squinting in the darkness, hoping against hope that what she knew was true was some sort of trick.

It was definitely one of the swords from the last batch she’d sent out to the rebels, she would recognise her own work anywhere. But the only way these thugs could have gotten a hold of one was if they’d infiltrated a cell -- or if they’d killed one of her people.

“Hey, hey,” Magnus said. “We don’t want a fight here.”

Julia shook her head and squeezed his arm. “What are you on about, Ashley?”

“There have been no deliveries of weapons to Raven’s Roost for the last three months,” Ashley said. “And that last delivery was direct to the Governor’s forces, carefully guarded and meticulously catalogued.”

“So?” Julia said.

“This is a new blade,” he said, taking it from the man and stepping forward, tilting it so it caught the light of the torch. He slid fingers down the flat of it, and Julia felt an irrational urge to snatch it out of his hands. It was not _meant_ for him. “Beautifully forged, wouldn’t you say? In your professional opinion.”

She shrugged.

“Last count there were three blacksmiths in Raven’s Roost,” Ashley said. “Two of them are… let us say… less than competent. This is most certainly not their work.”

She put a fist on her hip. “You’re saying _I_ made that?” she said. Magnus, bless his heart, was silent. She prayed he stayed that way. 

“It’s the logical conclusion.”

She snorted and held out a hand. “I wouldn’t spit on it,” she said, as Ashley, after a slight hesitation, handed it to her. Two of the guards next to him stepped forward, worried, she guessed, that she would do what she dearly wanted to, and stab the thing directly through Ashley’s chest. She wasn’t that stupid though. “Look at the balance,” she said, holding it out in front of her, point slightly dipping. “That’s top heavy. Going to make any decent swordsman sprain his wrist after less than ten minutes.” She flicked her nail against the blade so it gave a dull twang. “Not that that would matter, since the metal is tempered so badly it’ll break on the second swing.”

Ashley tilted his head. “Really,” he said. Not convinced.

She blew air out of her cheeks. This was risky, and she knew it, but at this point she didn’t have much choice. “I can show you if you like,” she said. 

Ashley spread his arms. “Please do.”

“Clear some space,” she said, and the guards and Ashley stepped back as she hooked her hammer to her belt and held the sword in both hands.

She muttered a small prayer to Moradin under her breath and swung the sword at the cobblestone pavement once, then twice, then three times.

On the third strike, the blade shattered, sending shocks up her arms and splinters of metal across the ground. Two of the guards scooted back in alarm and Magnus gave a grunt of surprise.

She spun the hilt in her hand and gave it back to Ashley, who was frowning as he turned it over in his hands.

“I would never put my name to something that shoddy,” Julia said. “Look to the other blacksmiths in town if you must, or maybe try employing city guards who don’t take bribes to look the other way when travellers want to bring their own weapons here.”

Ashley made a motion with one hand and two of his guards peeled off into the darkness.

“Well then, Julia,” he said. “Seems I was a little hasty to make… accusations.”

“What exactly were you planning on accusing me of, Ashley?” she said. “Where did you get that sword, and why is it important?”

Ashley shook his head. “It’s not important, my dear,” he said. “Forget we ever crossed paths.”

“How did you know we were going to be here, by the way?”

“I dined with Lord Ushwood,” Ashley said. “He mentioned you would be visiting him this evening.”

“So you decided to waylay us in a darkened alleyway?” Magnus said.

Julia shot him a warning look but he ignored her.

“Waylay?” Ashley said, glancing back at Magnus. “Not at all. My men and I were just planning to relight the torches. Some of the… denizens of this area are so careless when it comes to civic safety.”

“A total chance meeting then,” Magnus said.

Ashley’s eyes narrowed and Julia caught her lower lip between her teeth in sudden worry, but the man was obviously bored and tired of this. “Total coincidence, my boy,” he said. “Julia do you require an escort back to your father?” 

She shook her head.

“Well then, until we meet again.”

Ashley and his retinue departed and Julia took Magnus’ arm again and led him towards the other end of the alley. He was reluctant to follow and kept looking back to where the other man had left, frowning a frown that looked familiar to her, although she couldn’t exactly place from where.

“Just keep moving,” she said, low and urgent near his ear, and thank goodness he paid attention and did was he was told.

It was a few blocks before she was able to breathe easy again and she realised she hadn’t let go of her iron grip on Magnus’ forearm. When she finally pried her hand loose she felt a little guilty -- there were five red marks where her fingers had dug into his skin.

“So,” Magnus said. “You want to tell me what _that_ was about?”

“Not really,” she said.

“That was your sword,” he said. “It was exactly the same as the ones you were making…”

“Yes it was my sword.”

“So it was _bad?”_

She whirled on the spot and shoved him against a wall. “NO!” she said. 

He put his hands up, smiling slightly in the dim light of the lanterns. She realised she had her teeth bared and squared her shoulders. “No, it wasn’t bad. I weakened the blade before I shattered it.”

He nodded, as though his suspicions had been confirmed. “Magic.”

She shrugged. “I used to be more in tune with Moradin than I am now. He still grants favour, if I ask nicely.”

“That’s pretty devious of you.”

“Needs must.”

“Uh huh,” Magnus said. 

They were still close enough to each other that she could feel heat from his skin and her hand was still pressed into his chest. “Aren’t you going to ask more?” she said.

“Depends,” he said. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about if I do?”

She opened her mouth, mind racing. Their plans, the rebellion, none of it had really seemed real until a few months ago and she would be lying if she said they didn’t still feel unreal to her now. It was so important that they not be discovered. They were so close.

But there was also a feeling in her gut that this man somehow _belonged._ That having him here would be the catalyst that would lead to their freedom. 

He’d been here two months and she knew barely anything about him at all. “I don’t know if I can trust you,” she said, finally.

He nodded, looking back up the way they had come, then back down to her. In the dim light she couldn’t make out his expression, but he reached up his hand and gently placed it over hers, still resting on his chest. She could feel the steady, slow thump of his heart against her skin. “I trust _you,”_ he said softly. “And I want to help.”

She looked up into his blue and earnest gaze, and made a decision.


End file.
